tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post1400458491600965706..comments2023-07-01T03:46:37.412-07:00Comments on Hard Sleeper: Poverty's better halfBarbarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04038516078498541056noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-85133397761212384752013-08-04T08:06:56.365-07:002013-08-04T08:06:56.365-07:00That’s a fine opening disclaimer about who’s happi...That’s a fine opening disclaimer about who’s happiest—a very wise approach. I’m also interested that Graceful Space and I both land on the singing—esp. by children—as the center of the piece, though it’s not the bulk of it by word count. Again, it’s probably the human element coming through more stirringly than the section on tea, though that’s interesting in its own right. That video of the kids is terrific, and what a voice the teacher has! <br /><br />How do the folks of the region refer to or talk about the arm crossing and head bowing at the end of the song? It’s very cute but also a touch disturbing, I think—the somewhat heavy-handed imposition of order after the singing and swaying, which is a whole other kind of order, a sweet, happy order, or so it would seem. <br /><br />“The Masons or a gang” . . . Provocative!<br />Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-51359482361376639682013-07-30T17:35:56.122-07:002013-07-30T17:35:56.122-07:00I remember learning in a world music class in coll...I remember learning in a world music class in college that in many African cultures there's no such concept as "not being able to sing"; to say "I can't sing" would be tantamount to saying "I can't talk". One of the best things about Wohelo that alumnae remember most fondly (and pass on to their children through lullabies) is how we sang all the time, about everything: at all meals and all other gatherings, and to accompany all kinds of activities. Before technology turned the First World into a culture of spectators rather than participants, singing used to be a normal part of most people's lives in the form of lullabies, children's songs, school songs, college songs, hymns, chants, sing-alongs, folk songs, work songs, etc.Graceful Spacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972295003581557470noreply@blogger.com